BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 96 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 29, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUDGET Nancy Skinner, Chair SB 96 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee) - As Amended: August 26, 2013 SENATE VOTE : Vote not relevant SUMMARY : This bill provides the necessary statutory references to enact the 2012-13 Budget related to resources, environmental protection, energy and agriculture. Specifically, this bill : 1)Shifts the Ocean Protection Council to the Natural Resources Agency and consolidates ocean programs under the Secretary for Natural Resources. 2)Allows revenues from agricultural leases provided to the state to be directed to the management of those leases rather than for the future purchase of state lands. 3)Allows the Speaker of the Assembly or the Senate Committee on Rules to appoint a Member of the Legislature or legislative staff to serve as an alternate for a Member of the Legislature appointed to a state board or commission within the Natural Resources Agency in the Member's absence. Because these members are ex-officio and do not vote, the alternates would have the same restrictions as the sitting members. 4)Provides a change to the Architectural Paint Recovery Program and Carpet Stewardship Program at the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to allow the administrative fees supporting these programs to be paid quarterly in arrears rather than yearly. 5)Reforms the Beverage Container Recycling Program at CalRecycle in order to: a) create a more stringent certification process, b) provide a new, formal training and technical assistance program, mandate the use of certain updated information technology tools, and, c) restrict recycling centers to only redeeming beverage containers for which a California Redemption Value has been paid. 6)Makes technical statutory changes to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to eliminate the non-critical SB 96 Page 2 functions, and reduce the statutory responsibilities of the department, in order to meet workload within its authorized spending levels. 7)Provides the necessary statutory changes to shift the Education and the Environment Initiative from the Secretary for California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to CalRecycle. 8)Requires Joint Legislative Budget Committee notification within 30 days of any hydroelectric power project relicensing proposal by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that, if approved by the department, would obligate the General Fund in the future. 9)Requires the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to develop and administer a risk mitigation program for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans. 10)Provides for the transfer of a Caltrans building to the Department of Parks and Recreation for incorporation into the capital development plan for the San Diego State Historic Park. 11)Extends a concession agreement at Will Rogers State Beach to exceed 20 years in order to allow the concessionaire to amortize improvements over a longer period of time. 12)Eliminates the term limits on voting members of the Delta Stewardship Council. 13)Requires the California Energy Commission, in administering the Electric Program Investment Charge as developed by the California Public Utilities Commission, to develop and administer this program with a focus on ratepayers and with annual reporting to the Legislature. Does not change the authorization status of the program. 14)Makes several changes to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) including: a) approves $30 million for cyber-security research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; b) provides for a zero-based budgeting exercise at the CPUC to be reported to the Legislature in 18-months, c) creates the Office of Ratepayer Advocates as a separate SB 96 Page 3 budgetary program at the CPUC with separate budget and positions; and, d) requires notice to the Legislature of future litigation settlements. 15)Contains an appropriation allowing the bill to take effect immediately upon enactment. COMMENTS : This bill is identical to SB 84 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), the Omnibus Resources trailer bill, which passed the Assembly Floor on July 3, 2013, with the exception of the deletion of a technical, obsolete provision. Analysis Prepared by : Gabrielle Meindl / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099